Further Boiler Updates and back on her driving wheels

Well what a crazy year! This will be the final update for 2021 but rest assured work will continue during the Christmas period....

I mid November I made my second visit to Ian Rileys in Bury to look at progress since the last visit in August. Well things have moved along at pace and CSPL are please at the progress to date.

Following are some pictures of progress.

New front boiler barrel section, lots to do to prepare for fitting. This will happen in the New Year

New lower backhead section welded in place, weld tested and past

New Sections of firebox side sheets weld in place, weld tested and past.

New Smoke Box tube plate fully marked out and ready for drilling. Once completed work will commence in the new year to fit this to the new front barrel section and that new section to the existing boiler. 

The loco frames back on they're driving wheels. The loco was moved very slowly in late Nov to check all was ok after the re wheeling. Behind the frames 2807 tender.

WE HAVE TURNED A CORNER

We have turned a significant corner over the last couple of months! Things are going back on the frames and the wheel sets are almost ready to go back under the frames too.

The following update and pictures will highlight events over the last few months. Our teams on Wednesday and Saturdays have been work very very hard to move things forward after the last period of COVID delays.

We still have a long way to go but its great to see bright new, or refurbished, items going back together

The new super heater headers for 2807 and the Dinmore groups 38

Team Tyler cleaning and painting various items

Test fitting the axle boxes before that go back on the wheelsets

The eccentric sheaves, part of the inside motion, being lifted inside the wheelset in

 readiness for them being putting back on.

Back in place!

Re profiled driving wheelsets with their refurbished axle boxes being made ready

for going back under the frames. Note the old brake blocks being used to keep the 

axle boxes the correct way up

Lets get this thing back on her driving wheels!!!!

The next update should have pictures of the mainframes back

on her wheelsets! A massive step forward by the whole team!

Finally we get to Riley's!!

Well, we finally got to meet with the Team at Ian Riley’s Engineering!!

The boiler moved last March, and we finally sat down at their HQ on Thursday 19^th August. Cotswold Steam HGO team travelled up from the south/southwest and were joined by a further CSPL Board member

Work has not progressed at the pace CSPL would have liked due to COVID and not being able to meet with Riley's team face to face. Additionally, Riley’s are only just getting back to full operations post COVID

The boiler is now in various bits:

                Smoke box removed

                Smoke tube plate is out

                Front barrel section detached from the rest of the boiler

                Back head (below fire hole door) has been removed.

Based on further analysis of the smoke box Riley's will be providing a revised quote for its replacement/refurbishment.

A new smoke box tube plate will be manufactured and the go ahead was given for that to take place.

A new front barrel section needs to be manufactured but further discuss needs to take place between Riley’s, CSPL, and British Engineering (boiler inspectors). CSPL will give authority for this to happen very soon, we hope!

With the removal of the backhead we have found a larger that expected volume of old stays and other rubbish! This is proving difficult to remove but will be completed soon so the new back head section can be fitted, and the foundation ring removed

Old and new back head

 New smoke box tube place for 4277, ours will be like this one

Old parts

Our boiler internals

Volunteers Sort - CAN YOU HELP OUR TEAM

 

Can You help Us?

With the easing of “Covid” restrictions it is hoped to make more progress with the HGO of 2807, and this is going to put additional pressures on the regular members of the work-force.

Could you spare some time to assist us by taking on some of our administration work?

Admin Assistant

This is a job which can be done from home in the normal course of events. It requires a person with reasonable computer skills to provide support to the Company Secretary and the Treasurer. The bulk of the work involves the preparation and distribution of Notices of Meetings, Minutes, and Reports both Technical and Financial. On occasion it may involve communication with Depts within the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway and with suppliers. The work does not require any specialised knowledge of Railways or locomotives although an interest in the subject could make the job more interesting. In the future there will be an opportunity to advance to the role of Company Secretary when the present incumbent retires.

Do you know of a person with wood-working skills? We need somebody to help to maintain our Siphon G. It was built at the end of WW2 to serve as part of an ambulance train evacuating casualties from the battlefield.  After the war it reverted to civilian duties conveying milk and fresh produce from the West of England to London.

Joiner/Woodworker

A competent woodworker is required to repair and maintain the Siphon-G which serves as our support and storage vehicle.  The vehicle is similar in size to a passenger coach, and is constructed with an oak frame mounted on a steel chassis, with articulated bogies at each end. The frame is clad in Deal boarding with louvres running the length of the vehicle.  On each side of the vehicle are four pairs of doors for loading and unloading.  In recent times CSPL have renewed parts of the Oak frame, and replaced the cladding boards, and re-made some of the main doors. However this is a timber vehicle and it needs on-going care and maintenance to keep it weathertight.

Periodically there may be requirements to repair/modify patterns for locomotive components.

The majority of this work will be carried out on site at Toddington, so applicants will have to hold a GWSR Work Permit or pass through the GWSR Induction Course.

If you think you can help in either of the positions indicated above please drop an email to

Brian Gamlin- Chairman                brian_gamlin@yahoo.co.uk

Gilbert Kitchen – Secretary          gilbert.a.kitchen@gmail.com

HGO has restarted (again)

 

We are pleased to confirm that the HGO of the loco has restarted!

With the lifting of HMG restrictions in early April the CSPL team have been able to get back to it. This blog update shows the continued progress in taking the loco apart, creating new, refurbishing, and replacing!! 

News from Riley’s 

Lower back head section of the outer firebox has been removed; the cut-out section will form the template for the new one.

Wheels Sets

The main wheels sets, and bogie wheels, were sent away before Christmas to the South Devon for reprofiling. They have now arrived back. 

On arrival work has taken place to clean and repaint them.

All the axel boxes require refurbishment before being put back on the wheels sets.

This requires lots of measuring and discussion......something the CSPL team are very good at.............usually with tea and biscuits.

Before the wheels can be put back under the frames further work is required, more measuring and alignment checks and more tea drinking........

The team continue to clean and paint other items that have been removed from the loco. here the brake hangers are cleaned, bushes removed, and painted.

New rocker covers have been cast and are now being machined.

Both vacuum brake cylinders from the loco and tender have been removed, in the next picture you can see the cylinder shaft (tender) has been refurbished new bushes and seals will also be made in readiness for them going back on to the loco at the right time. The loco cylinder has been completed already and is in store.

Other things going on, the new ash pan has been completed and is being stored on top of the CSPL container. This has now been covered over to protect it from the elements

Running boards have been removed and are now being cleaned and painted.

Last picture is stored items that have been cleaned, checked, painted in readiness for that day when they go back on 2807.

CSPL have a busy year ahead, Gilbert has spent lots of time planning and then re planning due to COVID. We hope that now we can focus on getting 2807 back into service. There is lots to do but the team could not be more motivated!!

 

KEEP WATCHING!! 

Boiler progress update from Riley's Engineering

CSPL have issued Riley’s with authority to start work in the deconstruction of 2807 boiler and work started straight away!!

The old smoke box tube plate was removed, this involved cutting around where the longitudinal stays were secured.

To remove the tube plate the bottom of the old front barrel section had to be cut.

The next picture shows the team at Riley’s working on the front barrel section in readiness for its removal and replacement.

The ends of the longitudinal stays and the remains of the tube plate can be seen inside the front barrel section.

The Front boiler barrel section removed

Looking back into what remains of the boiler barrel, the bits of cloth are covering the end of the Longitudinal stays

Preparing the back head!

In order to enable the section below the Firehole door to be removed, these are the stays inside the firebox that need careful removal first

Keep coming back to the blog to see further updates from Rileys as well as updated from the CSPL team once HGO restarts at our based on the GWSR

Boiler Overhaul Agreement: Cotswold Steam Preservation Limited (CSPL) in partnership with Ian Riley’s Engineering

CSPL are pleased to announce that after a particularly challenging period for everyone due to COVID lockdowns, via Zoom meetings and many emails, the scope of work to overhaul the Boiler of 2807 has been agreed with Ian Riley’s Engineering Ltd (Riley’s)

This is a huge milestone and will now allow CSPL and Riley’s to move forward and focus on the specific work required to complete the boiler overhaul.

The high-level scope of work has been defined as follows:

·         Replace the front boiler barrel section and smoke box tube plate for new

·         Replace the back head from just below the fire hole door down to the foundation ring

·         Repairs to the foundation ring

·         Work to replace sections of the smoke box and smoke box door plate

·         Complete set of new tubes

·         Various other items to facilitate the above

Brian Gamlin the CSPL Chairman commented:

“ With not being able to visit Ian and his team the process has taken longer than expected, this has been frustrating for all. We are incredibly pleased to have got to this point and reaffirm that we made the correct decision to award this work to Riley’s. My thanks go to Ian, Greg, and Andy from Riley’s and to Gilbert Kitchen the CME for CSPL for their hard work so far”

Comments from The Team at Riley’s:

“Riley's are delighted that CSPL chose to trust us with the boiler work for 2807. The Pandemic has meant that no face-to-face meetings around the boiler have been possible. But CSPL and Riley's have worked together to overcome this, and we are very pleased to have agreed a scope of works and to have the positive support of CSPL that will enable us to start work immediately.”

As we release this information CSPL are planning to restart the HGO on the 31^st March and will work closely with the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR) over the coming months to get back to an “almost” normal pattern of working. Before lock down the major strip down of the main loco frames was completed. We still have a few little things to do but we can now focus on, and see, the major milestone of putting things back together. We have a long way to go and have been impacted by COVID but the CSPL team are an amazing group of volunteers that will work extremely hard to get 2807 back into steam as soon as possible.

The Board and Directors of Cotswold Steam Preservation Limited. (CSPL)

Posted by Brian Gamlin (Chairman)